Monday, February 16, 2015

From one generation to the next, the substance of leadership does not change, however, the trends and styles have to be continually adjusted in order to lead effectively. leadership is all about the future, and what’s the future of leadership?

Leadership is all about the future. Leadership is defined with respect to changing the future. That is why having a vision for the future is usually considered one of the key aspects of leadership. The leadership of the past has molded and structured (good or bad) the dynamics of the leadership of the present and future leaders. Leadership will be energy that is moved from expert to expert at the right time to give the team the best chance to achieve. As our world changes drastically around us we have to move into a proactive mindset. Successful companies need people with a growth mindset (compared to a fixed mindset) independent on tasks or level. This is true for experts, big picture people - for people who organize and coordinate to the people who inspire and motivate, turn that moment into a development possibility. This will be a leaders task in many situations.

The future of leadership is more systematic and tech-savvy: What is your “system” for making leadership happen in your life and the lives of others? How do you set up "systems" for path correction? How does technology affect Leadership? What were external, exogenous events which supported or inhibited your leadership in this short time frame? How do you need to adjust your system? One one side, the world becomes more hyperconnected and interdependent, on the other side, as technology evolves, people are more likely to be gadget and internet- addicted, dissociating themselves with others. The workplace is going to be no different. Evolution to a paperless office, telepresence, virtual meetings is continuously emerging... A leader for tomorrow has to be tech savvy as well as people savvy. A leader has to learn to trust more and be empathetic as she/he may not meet the team in person at all! A great leader will be one who adapts the latest technology quickly, for amplifying his/her leadership influence, as well as for the benefit of his/her team and the organization.

Leadership has become collective and collaborative. Leadership can be collectively driven and shared through a connection of situational expertise. This is where leaders who develop "recombinant capability" and collaborative intelligence will find effectiveness. Teams made up of experts, collaborating to serve on purpose or goal, benefits from a leader who has collaboration skill and can keep the big picture in focus. So the key is the role of a leader grows further into one of environment setting and situation building. The leader will become even more of the network that leads to purpose and goals. It has been said that true leaders create more leaders, not followers. The future of leadership will (and to some extent already has) exemplify this. Rather than a single leader in an organization, leadership will dissipate to a larger group who will collectively realize their responsibility for the common goals.

From Positional leaders to consensual leaders: Positional leaders derive their authority from the resources made available to their position in an organizational chart. They have a capital budget and people working under them. There are also consensual leaders who gain their authority through their influence of others. Consensual leaders obtain followers through an atmosphere of mutual respect and can be found anywhere within an organization. Ideally, positional leaders aspire to become consensual leaders. To do that, they have to turn their marchers into followers. This is accomplished by actually leading their marchers to an objectively better place. This is where technology comes in for amplifying leadership influence and improving leadership effectiveness. Leadership is more situational than thought, perhaps the saying leaders are made not born is based on seeing people become leaders because they had to take the lead on a problem that no one could.

Command-Control style of leadership is out of date: The future is here, command and conquer as a model doesn't work and neither will it bear abundant fruit in the digital marketplace. Power dynamics has changed, and tomorrow's leaders can not expect the same level of control that past leaders had. Ratio and control driven leadership (based on anxiety, spreadsheets and the need for power) has had its best time. There is a belief that leaders in the future will not have the same ability to force compliance as in the past. There also seems to be a consensus that there needs to be a leveling out of the leadership process. The future of leadership needs to have the ability to lead towards the goal. Leaders need to be more values-driven rather than bottom-line-driven; more people rather than product-focused; more adaptable, flexible and accepting of diversity of ideas, and mindful, purposeful and loving. Good leadership needs the great capacity of 1) keeping the mind focused on the goal, 2) observing how people are and how they interact with the goal, 3) knowing how to motivate multi-generational workforce through inspiration, positive energy, co-creation, and love.

Technology is one of the tools that can help improve leadership effectiveness to create a better world. A further thought on technology and future leadership must provoke considerations about the capacity of future leadership to adopt and use technology for good. In order for leaders to lead, there needs to be communication from the leaders to their employees as well as unfettered communication back up to the leader. Technology will play a major role in this communication as well in the way workers communicate with each other. So leaders need to be connected to their employees, the business environment and their community via multi-channel of communication. The leaders will need to know how to effortlessly operate in this type of environment and culture which the current developing generation inhabit and continue to shape and be shaped by. They will have to be tech savvy, open to frank discussions and challenges. They will also need to work out how to keep the attention of people that crave information but arguably have shorter attention spans and can also juggle many processes at the same time.

Leadership is an INCLUSION process. As we move forward and upward, we will understand that we are all leaders in the different arena. It's a knowing when you are the right person at the right time in the right place and then moving on it with the permission of the whole. Inclusion is the new start that awakens in all of us the common-unity we share. We want leaders who recognize the gifts that all people have and are willing to share the leadership role. Open communications with lots of trusts will assist us in moving from a society of Force to one of the Power. When we allow the passions of people to do good and to move the right person at the right time, into the right place we will be generating leadership in the spirit of everyone winning.

The substance of leadership keeps the same. Leadership in the future will be like it has always been over millennia ago. But, a leader definitely needs the trait to be teachable to keep up with technological advances and processes. To always 'keep learning' is a must. A leader needs to know what resources are available and how best to utilize these resources. But this doesn't change leadership principles, they are timeless. What doesn't change are the follower's need for trust, empathy, stability and hope in their leaders, and leaders’ learning agility, influence, and adaptability.

Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master: